Thanks Victor, the Rohai was particularly interesting to me as it is not too far from Shotokan Rohai/Meikyo and because it shows how (what I assume were) earlier movements were reinterpreted in the Shotokan version.

I seem to remember seeing a translation of Rohai as something like "vision of a white crane" but I had never made a connection directly with crane kungfu, assuming that it referred to the one legged stance (altered in the Shotokan version), just as our Gankaku (Chinto) refers to this stance not the origin of the kata. Do you know if Rohai was ever practiced in Chinese styles?

Unfortunately I know of no Chinese equivalent for Rohai, of course there a likely a thousand Southern Chinese systems, any of which might be candidates for Okinawan sources. Thus there may be a source.

You are probably right-there is nothing uniquely useful from a fighting perspective (unless you like triangular jumping elbow strikes and bo disarms) but I quite like practicing it all the same. Some Japanese instructors I came across used to teach that the jump was performed as if you had your back to a cliff and you jumped off and back in mid air to surprise and counter against your opponent! In other words they had no idea what it meant...

It is also interesting to see the opening movements of Heian Nidan in the sequence towards the end. It was actually an old film of Harada Sensei of the Shotokai years ago performing Rohai and that movement in particular with the lead fist pointing a bit more forward instead of up, so more like a punch, that gave me a first clue as to a better interpretation of the opening of Heian Nidan.

Some of the stories relating to the kata and the alternative Shotokan name of Meikyo (silver/shiny mirror I think) are also quite interesting, relating to the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu ("Shining Heaven"), supposedly the ancestor of the Imperial dynasty, coming out of cave and looking at herself in a mirror. Of course it is probably Funakoshi grafting a Japanese story onto an Okinawan kata...

The "Meikyo/silver mirror" connection by the way is with the opening movement where you are briefly looking at your palms, as I you were looking in a mirror I suppose. No connection to likely applications though...

Although this kata is often described as a "crane" or a "heron" form, the etymology may reveal a different origin.

Accroding to both Tokashiki Iken (Gohakukai) and Kinjo Akio (Genbukan), the term Luohan as in Luohan Quanfa (Arhat Boxing) is actually pronounced Lohai in Fujian,,, pronounce this in Ryukyuan/Japanese and you get Rohai!

The signature posture (one leg up, open hand in front of forehead, open hand down), looks crane-ish, but if you close the fists, it is a signature Arhat Boxing posture, according to Kinjo...